Their Secret Obsession by Pippa Moon

Chapter 0351

Lottie POV

I had braced myself for bad news, but nothing could have prepared me for the blow Liam and Chase were about to deliver. Their faces were solemn, their eyes filled with a regret that spoke louder than words, and a sense of foreboding flooded my gut before a single syllable passed their lips.

"We made a bargain," Liam said at last, voice low but unwavering. "A pact with Selene to protect you and... the babies."

My whole body went rigid. The unborn twins within me stirred in response, or perhaps it was my own pulse hammering at my rib cage that I felt. Six months along, and I had grown accustomed to them reacting to my heightened emotions--but the sharp flutter now felt like panic. A creeping sense of dread, slow and paralysing, started to snake through my limbs.

"Protect me from what?" I rasped, my throat tight with fear and confusion. "And why didn't you tell me? Why have I only found out now?"

"We thought we could fix it quietly. The terms of our bargain were... complicated. We didn't want to worry you if we could avoid it." Chase shifted uncomfortably, his usual playful demeanour subdued.

"Well, it's a bit late for that." A sour laugh escaped me as I spoke. My heart thumped painfully, and I clasped my hands over my belly in an attempt to soothe the roiling turmoil. "What kind of deal did you make with Selene?"

"We surrendered our remaining time," Liam admitted. His gaze flickered to my midsection, almost apologetically. "The pact was made when we thought it was the only way to ensure your safety--and the twins"."

"Your... remaining time? What do you mean, 'remaining time'?" My breath caught, I think I knew, but I needed to hear it from them.

time to say our goodbyes before she... collects us."

thick silence seemed to coat the room, muffling even the shuddering of my breath. My ears rang, and I couldn't hear anything but my own heartbeat for a moment. The realisation tasted bitter: I had only recently found my brothers after a lifetime of being denied a family, and now they would be snatched away

out, shaking my head.

a thin line. Chase simply looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. There was no joke here, no trick. Six days. The babies wouldn't even be born by then, which meant they wouldn't get to meet their uncles--the uncles who had spent the last six months singing lullabies to my growing bump, telling stories that lulled me

of anger fought its way to the surface. My heart hammered so vigorously that the babies kicked in alarm, and I forced myself to take a sharp

voice trembled with the weight of betrayal. "I'm not a child--I can make

my seat

bulk as

keel over or--given the barely contained power sparking beneath my skin--unleash a storm of my own. My mates hovered anxiously,

in a careful attempt at levity. He gave me a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. "We won't be going far, and it's not like you aren't a

crashed into a wall. The cheeky spark in his

when they're born, huh? Who'll watch them grow

softly.

I could not reach. Now, I was surrounded by my mates, my friends, and this haphazard group I had grown to love--but none of that stopped me

betraying the terror and heartbreak threatening to swamp me. The immediate wave of guilt stung:

air, and sparks of bright white light flickered from my fingertips, popping in luminescent arcs

except Adam. He stood stone-still, arms folded over his chest, his expression thunderous yet contained. I could sense his silent